PDP Dissolves Akwa Ibom Excos, Alleges Loyalty to Governor Umo Eno and APC Control

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has executed a major internal shake-up in Akwa Ibom State, dissolving the party’s executive committee four months after Governor Pastor Umo Eno’s high-profile defection to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC). Debo Ologunagba, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, firmly stated that the decision was necessary because the party’s local excos had effectively fallen under the control of the departing governor and, by extension, the opposition APC.

Dependable NG reports that the political dynamics in the state changed drastically on June 6 when Governor Eno left the party, making him the second PDP governor in the South-South region following Governor Sheriff Oborevwori of Delta State to cross over to the APC in under two months. Akwa Ibom State had been a PDP stronghold since the return to civil rule in 1999, making the governor’s exit and the subsequent internal crisis a major setback for the opposition party.

Speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Ologunagba offered a detailed justification for the National Working Committee’s action. He explained that a careful review had revealed no discernible difference in loyalty between the Akwa Ibom executive members and their alignment with the All Progressives Congress.

“In Akwa Ibom State, the governor has left. We have noticed at the National Working Committee and party level that there seem not to be a difference between the members of the executives in that state and their alignment with the All Progressives Congress,” Ologunagba stated. He further invoked the party’s constitutional provision, citing Section 10, Subsection 6, which explicitly states that no member of the party shall align with other parties or groups to undermine the PDP or any of its selected governments.

The National Publicity Secretary described the situation as an “anathema,” arguing that it is constitutionally unacceptable to belong to two parties simultaneously. He stressed that the PDP’s belief is that the Akwa Ibom executives were being effectively controlled by Governor Eno, who is now a member of the APC. Ologunagba noted that the governor himself had been recorded on tape stating that he would be “in charge of the two parties,” a clear indication of compromised loyalty that necessitated the dissolution of the chapter to prevent further sabotage of the party’s interests in the state.